Kodiak Knoth's: Catching Up!

There is so much to catch up on! Fiona and I left for Whidbey the day after Christmas so I haven't had time to catch up on the blog until now. We are back home recovering from our travels which went smoothly until hitting Anchorage. With a canceled flight I had the joy of hauling all of our baggage, including a car seat, to a hotel for the night. Thank God for hotel shuttles and bellman. We woke up at 4:00 the next morning to catch the morning jet. Thankfully weather in Kodiak cleared and we arrived safely home! So now I can tell you about our Christmas and our trip!

Solstice!

The Solstice fairy arrived at our house again with a new pair of PJ's for Fiona. She was excited to open her gift before we headed out to our friends Solstice party. In Alaska, we are happy to celebrate the shortest (darkest) day of the year because we know that little by little we will start to get more light in our day. Bring on the light!

Christmas!

We so enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three! Fiona did well opening gifts and thought the wrapping paper was pretty great. She got overwhelmed so we took it slow and gave her a few things to open that night. She must have been a very good girl because Santa brought her some musical instruments (a xylophone and a bell bracelet) and a wooden walker wagon. Brian and I got her some new books and socks! In the evening we enjoyed a feast with good friends!

Fiona is delighted with her new xylophone!

A beautiful Christmas wagon!

Clara!

As you know, we have our beautiful Clara Mary! My beautiful niece waited for me to get to Whidbey for her birth! I was so happy to be there. Fiona was amazing at the birth given that I scooped her up out of bed to go to the cabin. She sensed that something special was happening. The cabin was so peaceful with the Christmas tree lights glowing and the kids surrounding Molly. I am so happy that we got to share that with them. I want a homebirth next time! I told Molly that if we don't get a midwife in Kodiak I'd have my next baby at her house!

Fiona all smiles at her first homebirth

Aunty Sue and Clara!

Baptism

It was very special to have Fiona baptized with her cousin. Clara was just a few days old and we wondered if she would make it time for this planned double baptism. She did! Fiona really liked it! After having water and oil rubbed on her head she began to rub her head all around. The congregation loved it! She smiled through most of it! She was also able to wear the baptism gown that nearly every member of my family has worn. We estimate that it is about 120 years old. Her great grandmother wore this gown for her own baptism!